Total posts: 8,696
The Lake Isle of Innisfree
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
-WB Yeats
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Barney
UNVOTE
VTL Ragnar
Ragnar's been online all morning without participation and its time to start coalescing the vote.
Ragnar is now last to join so he should give us some reason not to lynch him first.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Vader
I think that's pretty much just me.I hate when people mask their character with puzzles
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@warren42
one man's blatant is another man's befuddlement.
bullish & drafter complain that my clues are too obscure.
I'd say to either complaint that I try (probably poorly) to match the breadcrumb to circumstance
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Singularity
That is a golden 20-sided dice (most commonly associated with Dungeons & Dragon) and NOT a dreidle (most commonly associated withStill suspicious of lucky because of that dredle avatar.
Chanukah).
Created:
Posted in:
[supadudz'vanillahoneybeemoviememesaysstayingaliveismarcanthony'sgroovydream]
NOTE for TOWN:
after some moments of feeble consideration,
I have elected to OUT my flavor to town's edification
- I am BELOVED-
- my hammerlyncher or nightkiller is made HATED and
- cursed with one less vote to lynch
Therefore, if I die at night there is at least one possible test for determining my murderer
I breadcrumbed this flavor in post#13
(mafia should disregard this notice)
Created:
sounds tasty. What makes the cheese explode? How does shredding solve it?
Did u see this on the AP?
Not exactly gloating, stockpiling 'preppers' have a moment
- TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Curt La Haise has put up with plenty of razzing from friends over the years who have called him paranoid for stockpiling an eight-month supply of food in his basement and having enough fuel to power his generator for almost an entire winter.
- They're not laughing anymore amid panic buying that has cleared store shelves across the U.S. and growing fears that the new coronavirus will force many Americans to self-quarantine for weeks in their homes.
- “Now my friends are like, ‘What should I do, what should I get?’” said La Haise, who operates a firearms and safety training business near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. “Prepping doesn’t look so bad now.”
- For those in the often-mocked "prepper” community, this is quickly becoming their “I told you so” moment. But many are resisting saying that, even if it's in the back of their minds. What they hope is that they'll finally be taken seriously and that more people will follow their lead.
- “We're not laughing. We're not saying, ‘I told you so,' when people are out there fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizers,” said Paul Buescher, of Northfield Center Township, Ohio.
- Buescher is one of 32 members of a group in northeastern Ohio that shares a farm packed with enough canned and dehydrated food and water to last for years. He said he is now getting calls all day long asking for advice.
- Survival supply stores can't keep up with the demand for food kits and medical supplies.
- “Every single business that has to do with emergency preparedness is overloaded,” said John Ramey, founder of a Colorado-based prepper website called "The Prepared."
- Most preppers say they are about self-reliance and common sense and are quick to distance themselves from the “doomsday preppers” who are depicted on television shows awaiting the day most of the world's population is wiped off the map.
- “The vast majority of this is ‘beans and Band-Aids,’ not ‘bullets and bunkers,’” Ramey said.
- Jim Cobb, a disaster readiness consultant and editor-in-chief of Prepper Survival Guide magazine, said he has seen a few fellow preppers gloating on social media about people who are crowding stores in search of disinfectants.
- “I hate the thought of alienating any of them because they think were a bunch of elitist goofballs.” he said. “We're trying to take advantage of the opportunity that for once they're not laughing and pointing fingers at us.”
- While most people who have tested positive for the virus experience only mild or moderate symptoms, there's a greater danger and longer recovery period for older adults and people with existing health problems.
- Experts say it's most important to practice safe hygiene: Wash hands frequently, cover sneezes and coughs, and stay home if fever or other symptoms arise.
- As for the preppers, they have their own recommendations for anyone who is unsure of what to do next
- Be ready to stay at home for at least two weeks. Have plenty of food and water. Don't forget about your pets and medicines. That includes over-the-counter products for fevers and coughs.
- Yes, toilet paper is important, but so are hand sanitizers, disinfectants, sanitation wipes, eye protection and gloves.
- Get your finances in order. Make sure you can pay your bills and have cash on hand.
- Maybe most important, relax and don’t panic. And pay attention to the news and what's happening around you.
Created:
-->
@fauxlaw
It makes a certain amount of sense to me. TP, for example. It's not that overstocking TP is likely to be helpful against coronavirus but you walk into the store prioritizing "what can't I do without?" rather than how much do I have and how long will it last. Besides, why buy Kleenex when TP can can serve either purpose?
Here in Downtown Denver a huge new population of millennials eats out a lot. Suddenly, a majority of the population is planning to feed themselves for the next three weeks. The average kitchen already has a certain stock of chips, cookies, ice cream, candy, soda pop, maybe some cans of chicken soup , sugar, spices, flour, beans- probably some of it past it sell by date. It seems most middle class kitchens just store vast quantities of this stuff till it expires.
But they don't have a lot fresh meat and veg and fruit in their fridges. For a fresh meal, most of these millennials eat out. Like, 7-12 meals out a week . Therefore, at least around here it seems true, demand for meat and veg and TP suddenly far exceeds supply.
I visited an elderly neighbor who complained bitterly about the TP supply. The store told her to come back tomorrow at 7am when they would have a new shipment and the poor thing got up an hour early to get there by 7am, when she was told that they were already sold out.
I told her not to worry, I would find her some TP but she scoffed, "Oh, I don't need any! I have hundreds of rolls in the basement. I just wanted some more to be safe." That's one sign of some crazy demand. I told her that people aren't rational these days, " I just read Corona sales are down, like, 50% since the coronavirus started." Which I did read somewhere but now that turns out to be bullshit- sales of Corona beer are up 5% since Jan 1. Perhaps I am too ready to to attribute unreason too our collective response these days.
QUESTION:I know that having a good stockpile is popular practice in some religions. Is your stockpile a religious, cultural, family or individual choice, I wonder?
(Feel free to disregard if too personal)
Created:
-->
@Vader
China recently blamed the United States for this virus and accused us of dropping a deadly virus. Now I am convinced that China deployed this on purpose in order to exterminate democracyA) China’s responseChina did not automatically close any ports or travel agencies when the cases were growing within the country. They left the countries travel open, causing a huge change. Their influence caused them to manipulate markets to be kept open
- "In what has been described as "the largest quarantine in human history", a quarantine was announced on 23 January stopping travel in and out of Wuhan, which was extended to a total of 15 cities in Hubei. Private vehicle use was banned in the city. Chinese New Year (25 January) celebrations were cancelled in many places. The authority announced the construction a temporary hospital Huoshenshan Hospital, which was completed in 10 days, and 14 temporary hospitals were constructed in China in total. Universities and schools around the country were also closed. The regions of Hong Kong and Macau instituted several measures, particularly in regard to schools and universities. Remote working measures were instituted in several Chinese regions. Various travel restrictions were enacted"
B) Population ControlChina released the virus on the people to control the population and reduce it. They released it on Wuhan as a test city and to get rid of enough population to give them an advantage, but not enough to cause severe drastic measure
- A bio-weapon that only kills 1.4% of your target population (80% past the age of retirement) but forces you to trash 20-40% of your own GDP is the shittiest bio-weapon ever imagined. Why design a new, less deadly version of SARS as a weapon when you could just re-release SARS? or MERS? or Ebola?
- Let's keep in mind that Republican media outlets have been accusing China of spreading the virus for months
- Washington Times (Jan 26): Coronavirus may have originated in lab linked to China's biowarfare program
- "In January 2020, the BBC published an article about coronavirus misinformation, citing two 24 January articles from The Washington Times which claimed the virus was part of a Chinese biological weapons program, based at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). The Washington Post later published an article debunking the conspiracy theory, citing US experts who explained why the institute was not suitable for bioweapon research, that most countries had abandoned bioweapons as fruitless, and that there was no evidence that the virus was genetically engineered.
- So the US "smelt it" a good six, seven weeks before China
- Molecular biologists and geneticists can tell that SARS2 is an offshoot of SARS, originating in bats which transmitted to virus to pangolins which transmitted the virus to Human on or around Oct 1 of last year. Pangolin meat sells for $200/Kg in places like Wuhan.
- I am debating whether COVID-19 is man made here:
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Barney
UNVOTE
VTL Ragnar
"Give me a ping, Vassily. One ping only, please."
Created:
Posted in:
9. ILikePie5
6. Singularity
4. warren42
5. Ragnar
7. WaterPhoenix
SCUM
UVC
Lucky (2/6) - Lunatic, grey,
Supa (2/6) - pie, Single,
Water (1/6) - Lucky,
Pie (1/6) - Supa,
WaterPhoenix (1/6)- oromagi
Created:
Posted in:
8. oromagi
TOWN
1. Lunatic
3. Greyparrot
10. Lucky
2. SupaDudz
4. warren42
5. Ragnar
6. Singularity
7. WaterPhoenix
9. ILikePie5
SCUM
UVC
Lucky (2/6)- Lunatic, GP
WaPho (1/6)- Lucky
UNVOTE
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Lucky
Personally, I have no wincon.Lunatic, do you win with the town? Prune I may be, somehow I have a... feeling that the town will experience... victory.
Is this oversight or innovation?
Created:
Posted in:
#3
ACT II
PROLOGUE
PROLOGUE
Enter Chorus
Chorus
Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie,And young affection gapes to be his heir;That fair for which love groan'd for and would die,With tender Juliet match'd, is now not fair.Now Romeo is beloved and loves again,Alike betwitched by the charm of looks,But to his foe supposed he must complain,And she steal love's sweet bait from fearful hooks:Being held a foe, he may not have accessTo breathe such vows as lovers use to swear;And she as much in love, her means much lessTo meet her new-beloved any where:But passion lends them power, time means, to meetTempering extremities with extreme sweet.Exit
Created:
Posted in:
#2
"Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around
Since I was born
And now it's alright, it's okay
And you may look the other way
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive"
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@fauxlaw
o cum all ye losers
dumb but unrepentant
o cum ye you elephants of
mah-ah-fee-uh
cum be emboldened cuz
greyparrot is play-yay-ying
he might again just shout out
his scum affiliation!
o cum and be em-bold-end
MAH-ah-FEEEEEEEE-aaaaaaaaa!
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@bmdrocks21
They take far more than they give according to FAIRUS estimates of welfare expenditures vs tax collection.
FAIRUS is not a credible source for information.
- MediaBiasFactCheck.com finds that:
- "Overall, we rate FAIR Questionable based on Extreme Right Wing Bias as it relates to immigration, promotion of propaganda and conspiracies, as well as having connections to documented Hate Groups."
- The Southern Poverty Law Center designates FAIR as a hate group.
- "FAIR leaders have ties to white supremacist groups and eugenicists and have made many racist statements. Its advertisements have been rejected because of racist content. FAIR’s founder, John Tanton, has expressed his wish that America remain a majority-white population: a goal to be achieved, presumably, by limiting the number of nonwhites who enter the country. One of the group’s main goals is upending the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which ended a decades-long, racist quota system that limited immigration mostly to northern Europeans. FAIR President Dan Stein has called the Act a “mistake.”
- Wikipedia:
- "FAIR was founded in 1979 by the pro-eugenics ophthalmologist John Tanton, former historian of labor movements and director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions Otis L. Graham Jr. and Sidney Swensrud, a former chairman of Gulf Oil and former governing board member of Planned Parenthood. Tanton became leader of several anti-immigration groups and held white supremacist beliefs while he led the organization."
- Walter Cronkite and Linda Chavez resigned from the board of FAIR in protest over the organization's white supremacist agenda.
FAIR's 2017 report was widely condemned as corrupt in methodology and intent
- The conservative Koch Brothers' Cato Institute objected:
- "FAIR’s report reaches that conclusion by vastly overstating the costs of illegal immigration, undercounting the tax revenue they generate, inflating the number of illegal immigrants, counting millions of U.S. citizens as illegal immigrants, and by concocting a method of estimating the fiscal costs that is rejected by all economists who work on this subject. "
Well documented assertions regarding the fiscal impact of illegal immigration are hard to come by. I generally trust the findings of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office: "over the past two decades, most efforts to estimate the fiscal impact of immigration in the United States have concluded that, in aggregate and over the long term, tax revenues of all types generated by immigrants—both legal and unauthorized—exceed the cost of the services they use." While the overall fiscal impact on the US is beneficial, unauthorized immigrants have an adverse impact on the budgets of state and local governments."
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@RoderickSpode
These comparisons are horrible. They don't question an average atheist like they can an average Christian church goer. How can they?
it's a telephone interview of 35,000 individuals. They don't go out to churches. Pew Research's religion poll is the gold standard in polling. Pew is basically the old Sun Oil Co. billions placed in a trust for making the best non-partisan polling possible- nobody's in it for the money. I'm not saying that makes their findings automatically accurate, I'm just saying you won't find a pollster trying harder to get it right.
Where do atheists meet?
gay bars and grad schools
They're not thinking of the countless atheists that are virtually unknown working in factories, junk yards, etc. The only atheists they can question would be vocal atheists that are often activists,
I'm sure the set of all atheists is larger than the set of all atheists who answer the phone for pollsters but I see no reason to assume that the atheists who do answer the phone are only always activists or to assume that the junkyard atheists aren't just as likely to answer the phone.
and many are former Bible students, ministers, etc.
This is consistent with my findings. All the atheists I know started out fairly passionate about some religion. On the other hand, I know plenty of Christians who could care less about the underlying philosophy, for whom Christianity is more about identity and belonging than philosophy.
The problem is that the atheist activist, who feels he's an expert on the Bible, cannot learn anymore because he's at a standstill due to a conclusion he's drawn. Whereas the Bible student will at any level will eventually pass the atheist activist in knowledge because they continue to learn. And this is why atheist activists often resent Christian apologetics.
I don't see how Bible student excludes atheist activist but then I like to think anybody can continue to learn, including atheists. I assume that if an atheist demonstrates resentment towards some religion it probably has more to do with the former passion for religion we observed before rather than jealously towards the Christian's level of Bible learning.
Created:
The origin of every fortune is a crime.
The ides of March are a dangerous time.
The ideas of March originate in wind.
Madness may spring from a mind that hasn’t sinned.
The guides of March have scary stories to tell.
The family money came from a corpse and an oil well.
The editors of March fly to the moon and bring back April.
The original sinner has learned to shave and say “I will.”
You can trace each legacy back to the day
when the id of March exposed the ego’s feet of clay.
The dice of March roll on the green felt tabletop.
The suicides of March drive past the octagonal sign: Stop!
On the dais of March sit the deceased father and mother.
Every happy family is different from every other.
-David Lehman
Created:
"The Figure of a Man Being Swallowed by a Fish”
his youth, yield, luck, the law, his fear, the fog, his fame
is not a man being swallowed by a fish
with eyes like eight point throwing stars
it’s a man being swallowed by a war
a man being taken into the mouth of a woman
or being swallowed by his work
it’s a man traveling far inside a book
a man being swallowed up in smoke
he swallows the smoke, that blends around him like a thought
it’s a man being swallowed by a sound
he shapes it so he lives inside a song
of a man being swallowed by his kin, his skin
a man being swallowed by the State
(Leviathan in 1948)
it’s a man being swallowed by another man
literally, eaten as a pathway to god
it’s a man being swallowed by a sight
he cannot reach, cannot touch, cannot trace
it’s a man who won’t recognize his face
who can’t fit the parts, or find the place
it’s a man in triumph over death
who laughs and beats the dust from his clothes
a man tasting dust inside the laugh
it’s a man who listens to the clock
a man with nothing to exchange
a rude man, his twin he leaves behind
it’s a man who wants to be a bride
a man being swallowed by his fault
with something old to show and new to hide
it’s a man who tries to haul the rope
a man who stooping can’t provide
a man who can’t forget his name
it’s a man who doesn’t know his worth
it’s a man being swallowed by his wrath
his youth, yield, luck, the law, his fear, the fog, his fame
it’s a man being swallowed by a coat
his father’s coat, he smells of the fit
a man being swallowed by his vows
it’s a man softly squeezing for the vein
he never finds it, he’s minding the road
it’s a man being swallowed by a room
in which he finds a man being swallowed by a fish
it’s a man who thinks what’s in a man
who exits into night at closing time
the figure of a man being swallowed by a fish.
-Joshua Weiner
Created:
SCENE I. Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.
A crowd of people; among them ARTEMIDORUS and the Soothsayer. Flourish. Enter CAESAR, BRUTUS, CASSIUS, CASCA, DECIUS BRUTUS, METELLUS CIMBER, TREBONIUS, CINNA, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POPILIUS, PUBLIUS, and others
CAESAR
[To the Soothsayer] The ides of March are come.
Soothsayer
Ay, Caesar; but not gone.
ARTEMIDORUS
Hail, Caesar! read this schedule.
DECIUS BRUTUS
Trebonius doth desire you to o'erread,At your best leisure, this his humble suit.
ARTEMIDORUS
O Caesar, read mine first; for mine's a suitThat touches Caesar nearer: read it, great Caesar.
CAESAR
What touches us ourself shall be last served.
ARTEMIDORUS
Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly.
CAESAR
What, is the fellow mad?
PUBLIUS
Sirrah, give place.
CASSIUS
What, urge you your petitions in the street?Come to the Capitol.CAESAR goes up to the Senate-House, the rest following
POPILIUS
I wish your enterprise to-day may thrive.
CASSIUS
What enterprise, Popilius?
POPILIUS
Fare you well.Advances to CAESAR
BRUTUS
What said Popilius Lena?
CASSIUS
He wish'd to-day our enterprise might thrive.I fear our purpose is discovered.
BRUTUS
Look, how he makes to Caesar; mark him.
CASSIUS
Casca, be sudden, for we fear prevention.Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known,Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back,For I will slay myself.
BRUTUS
Cassius, be constant:Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes;For, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change.
CASSIUS
Trebonius knows his time; for, look you, Brutus.He draws Mark Antony out of the way.Exeunt ANTONY and TREBONIUS
DECIUS BRUTUS
Where is Metellus Cimber? Let him go,And presently prefer his suit to Caesar.
BRUTUS
He is address'd: press near and second him.
CINNA
Casca, you are the first that rears your hand.
CAESAR
Are we all ready? What is now amissThat Caesar and his senate must redress?
METELLUS CIMBER
Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar,Metellus Cimber throws before thy seatAn humble heart,--Kneeling
CAESAR
I must prevent thee, Cimber.These couchings and these lowly courtesiesMight fire the blood of ordinary men,And turn pre-ordinance and first decreeInto the law of children. Be not fond,To think that Caesar bears such rebel bloodThat will be thaw'd from the true qualityWith that which melteth fools; I mean, sweet words,Low-crooked court'sies and base spaniel-fawning.Thy brother by decree is banished:If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without causeWill he be satisfied.
METELLUS CIMBER
Is there no voice more worthy than my ownTo sound more sweetly in great Caesar's earFor the repealing of my banish'd brother?
BRUTUS
I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar;Desiring thee that Publius Cimber mayHave an immediate freedom of repeal.
CAESAR
What, Brutus!
CASSIUS
Pardon, Caesar; Caesar, pardon:As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall,To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.
CAESAR
I could be well moved, if I were as you:If I could pray to move, prayers would move me:But I am constant as the northern star,Of whose true-fix'd and resting qualityThere is no fellow in the firmament.The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks,They are all fire and every one doth shine,But there's but one in all doth hold his place:So in the world; 'tis furnish'd well with men,And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;Yet in the number I do know but oneThat unassailable holds on his rank,Unshaked of motion: and that I am he,Let me a little show it, even in this;That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd,And constant do remain to keep him so.
CINNA
O Caesar,--
CAESAR
Hence! wilt thou lift up Olympus?
DECIUS BRUTUS
Great Caesar,--
CAESAR
Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?
CASCA
Speak, hands for me!CASCA first, then the other Conspirators and BRUTUS stab CAESAR
CAESAR
Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar.Dies
CINNA
Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.
CASSIUS
Some to the common pulpits, and cry out'Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!'
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@Vader
Is this the end of the world?
Nope.
Recall that when the Black Death killed 30-60% of Europe, the value of labor skyrocketed. So many serfs were running away to become well-paid tradesmen and artisans in the cities that the landowning nobles had to switch to cash rent. Before the plague, the value of a farmer was roughly stuck at whatever surplus a farmer could produce. Now fewer farmers with far more land produced far more surplus- enough to feed their families, pay the rents, and still have money left over to save and invest. The increased demand in good and services rekindled an European economy that had essentially been stagnated since Diocletian's Edictum de Pretiis Rerum Venalium. The economy re-diversified- artists and writers could go into business for themselves instead of working for the Church. The Renaissance was a direct result of the Black Death.
This particular plague has a death rate somewhere between 1/10th and 1/50th of the Bubonic plague. Better, this plague seems to target the old and leave the young in good shape. In an era when the largest share of money in history is locked up in the coffers of a tiny percentage of very over-wealthy old men, a minor mass die off that increases the value of the laborer and releases a big chunk of idle cash back into the economy is likely to improve our society's overall prosperity.
Worst case scenario in the US is the death of 2-4 million people, 80-90% past the age of retirement. It's a cold calculation but far from the end of the world, this particular coronavirus is probably a net plus for humanity's prospects.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@n8nrgmi
don't let some old book hold you back... Follow your dream!so why can i or can't i own slaves, according to the bible?
Created:
Posted in:
I was so looking forward to the D&D mafia game. I had a gelatinous cube profile pic all queued up.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ethang5
More big generalizations that are easily disproved. I assume ethang5 is unconcerned about apparent prejudice.
but none of the claims are inherently atheistic in nature.I didn't say they were.
You did quite explicitly when you titled your list : "5 Atheist Urban Myths."
ethang5 is essentially complaining that some people make false assumptions about his beliefs regarding the bible because they assume he shares all the beliefs of some other Bible believers.Not quite. ethang5 is essentially saying that some people make false assumptions about the bible regarding Christianity because they assume it shares all their beliefs of some other Bible bashers.
So the belief in YE is only held by Bible bashers?
I love it when atheists start quoting the "evil, immoral" bible to support their charge of immorality. Lol.
I think most Atheists stay away from the notion of evil in the demonic, supernatural, or eternal sense of the word for the same reasons they are skeptical about supernaturally good forces. I would naturally expect any debater arguing that the Bible promotes immorality to quote from that Bible. Every generation finds moral fault with prior generations (getting generally less moral the further back in time we go). Holding our ancestors (and their literature) to a modern standard is pretty old hat unproductive.
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ethang5
atheists quoting a bible they have not read.
I know many Christians who have never read the Bible but I've never met a American Atheist who hasn't. I can't find a survey of Bible readers by belief system specifically but this anecdotal info seems to be backed up by decades of Pew polling that finds that Atheists and Agnostics score higher on religious knowledge generally and Biblical knowledge specifically than the average Christian.
"Atheists may not believe religious teachings, but they are quite informed about religion. In Pew Research Center’s 2019 religious knowledge survey, atheists were among the best-performing groups, answering an average of about 18 out of 32 fact-based questions correctly, while U.S. adults overall got an average of roughly 14 questions right. Atheists were at least as knowledgeable as Christians on Christianity-related questions – roughly eight-in-ten in both groups, for example, know that Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus – and they were also twice as likely as Americans overall to know that the U.S. Constitution says “no religious test” shall be necessary to hold public office."
Created:
Posted in:
-->
@ethang5
An urban legend, URBAN MYTH, urban tale, or contemporary legend is "a genre of folklore comprising stories circulated as true, especially as having happened to a friend or family member, often with horrifying or humorous elements. These legends can be entertainment, but often concern mysterious peril or troubling events, such as disappearances and strange objects. They may also be moralistic confirmation of prejudices or ways to make sense of societal anxieties.
Urban legends are most often circulated orally, but can be spread by any media, including newspapers, e-mail and social media. Some urban legends have passed through the years with only minor changes to suit regional variations. Recent legends tend to reflect modern circumstances: for instance, the common legend of a person being ambushed and anesthetized, only to wake up and realize that they are now missing a kidney that was supposedly surgically removed for transplantation."
URBAN MYTH is defined by the near-to-hand nature of the subject- stories about friends, family, and neighborhood. By definition, no content in the Bible (or misconception about that content) is accurately labeled URBAN MYTH.
In logic and reasoning, a FAULTY GENERALIZATION is "a conclusion made about all or many instances of a phenomenon, that has been reached on the basis of one or a few instances of that phenomenon. It is an example of jumping to conclusions. For example, one may generalize about all people or all members of a group, based on what they know about just one or a few people."
ATHEISM is "an absence of belief in the existence of deities."
That's the only characteristic that atheists hold in common. So, Diagoras of Melos and a Chinese public school kid may share the quality of Atheism without either of them ever having heard of the Bible. ethang5 may be able produce specific examples of people who identify as atheists and have made the above claims but none of the claims are inherently atheistic in nature.
Whatever the truth of ethang5's 5 examples, ludofl3x is correct in stating that 1 through 4 are religious assertions while the fifth is a literary fact. ethang5 is essentially complaining that some people make false assumptions about his beliefs regarding the bible because they assume he shares all the beliefs of some other Bible believers. For example, not all Christians believe that the Bible proves that the Earth is 6000 years and it would be a FAULTY GENERALIZATION for anybody (Atheists included but not only Atheists,) to say so just because some Christians do believe in a young Earth.
PRO's response to faulty generalization makes the mistake of making new faulty generalizations, which conjures a certain Biblical admonition:
"... he lifted up himself, and said unto them,
"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst."
Created:
I think all three candidates are too old both in principle and in practice. US Generals are required to retire at age 62 even though there aren't many physical requirements for modern generalship. Why isn't the Commander in Chief held to the same standard? The average age of US corporate CEOs is 58 while the average retirement age is 62. Why are government executives and lawmakers a generation older than business leadership? CEO makes a lot of sense to me as a model- the top job comes at the end of a career and most successful careers end around the mid-60's.
35 was not too young in 1800 when 35 was also the average life span but now that the average life span is 78, 35 is as much too young as 78 seems too old.
I'd raise the minimum to 45 and cap the max at 70 (to serve in office, not to run- a 68 year old candidate would be required to retire before the end of her term) with an optimally aged president targeted around 58, not 78. When the average life span doubles again, we can revisit the limits.
Created:
Posted in:
"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to themlikewise.
For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? forsinners also love those that love them.And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thankhave ye? for sinners also do even the same.
And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thankhave ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as muchagain.
But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping fornothing again; and your reward shall be great,"
Gospel of Luke 7:32-35
Created:
--> @oromagiYou know what, go get fucked troll.I have never had to block anyone before on this site, but consider yourself the rare exception.
/thread
Created:
non-sequitur.Lol, the 3rd person shtick is old dude, autism or not.
Created:
-->
@ethang5
That speech was even more threatening when placed in context!
how so?
Created:
-->
@Dr.Franklin
How does apologizing for promulgating fake news infringe on GP's right to free speech?
Hint: it doesn't
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Autism maybe. People who converse in the 3rd person have been known to have mild autism.
ad-hom. In fact, I address the audience for clarity in the back and forth of forums. I don't know if you've ever noticed it but if I keep calling you "you," and you keep calling me "you," pretty often the pronouns get muddled and readers can't tell who is who. I refer to you in the third person not for any anti-social purpose but for a social one: clarity of authorship.
Created:
-->
@ILikePie5
Interesting. What “price” will Kavanaugh and Gorsuch pay considering they were mentioned by name. Can you say what the price they will pay? It’s not directed to Senate Republicans or Legislatures. It was directed directly towards the two justices. In your opinion what is the price the justices would pay, cause normally when people say you’re going to pay, that’s a threat"
pay the price [verb]
Synonyms
- To incur the negative consequences of one's decision.
- pay the penalty, pay the piper
I think Schumer meant "pay the price" literally, in it's actual dictionary sense rather than one of it's many possible figurative senses. Just as sometimes (most times) when the Boss says he has to terminate an employee, he does not mean he intends to kill that employee, Schumer meant that Republicans would incur the negative consequences of overturning abortion (and in the next sentence identified those consequences as electoral failure in November) and did not mean that he intends to kill Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
@Discipulus_Didicit
--> @oromagiHere is the exact quote which, we should note, GP carefully fails to cite:It is possible that this was not "careful failure to cite" and instead mere projection on GPs part, he believing that an "armed revolt" is the option that he would favor if the positions were reversed and therefore that it is reasonable to assume this to be the option anyone else who might disagree with the Supreme Court should favor.It is also possible that he is merely prone to childlike exaggeration. Consider previous quotes of his such as "Mexicans are doing to us the same thing that Europeans did to Native Americans"He also has an outrageously strong black-and-white mentality, to the point where he incorrectly interpreted my pointing out that there was no evidence of a Mexican plot to commit genocide against anyone as me being in favor of open immigration policies.Actually now that I think back on that incident his insistance on holding to that interpratation even after being corrected makes me think you are probably right, he probably is intentionally twisting the truth rather than simply misunderstanding it in some way.<br>
The little I know of GP is that he pulls quotes from some scary sources, argues that Putin's Russia is a model of secular nationalism that should be exported to (over) Western Democracies (hence his love of Trump), and his profile pic used to be a portrait of SS Gruppenfuhrer Heinz Reinefarth: deathcamp commander and the ratfink of Nuremberg. All of that seems more consistent with a guy who more fantasizes than fears armed revolution. But honestly I have no idea what his intentions are. He's fun to play mafia with because he's such a black box. I think of GP as a GRU bot-in-exile but for all I know he could be a deep state liberal operative, fighting nationalism by making nationalism look dumb.
- Could GP be merely projecting his own violent outlook? sure
- Could GP be just exaggerating childishly? yes
- Does GP suffer from a black/white mentality? don't know
My point is that the notion of armed revolt is not explicit or implicit in Schumer's speech, not even the Fox News and Infowars versions suggest armed revolt. GP argues that he free to interpret whirlwind as euphemism for violence and he is free to do so, but we should note that the talk of armed revolt is not from the source he sites, rather it begins and ends with GP's OP.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
ad hominem. The only person talking about armed revolt is GP, which is a deliberate manipulation of the truth.Hopefully, if you are not high on the autism scale, and if you are, I apologize in advance, you can clearly see the rhetoric as a call to action for a few crazy people waiting for a reason to act.
Created:
-->
@bmdrocks21
Normal people don’t use that word. I’d figure he may be referring to unilaterally attempting to impeach them both or something.
Since it is a Hebrew proverb, Jewish people may use the phrase more often although I come across the phrase very regularly. For example, the famous movie about the Scopes Trial, "Inherit the Wind" refers to a variation on the same proverb. I'd say that normal people regularly use that word.
Case in point, Brett Kavanaugh in his opening remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee Sept 2018:
"This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.""You sowed the wind for decades to come. I fear that the whole country will reap the whirlwinds. The behavior of several of the Democratic members of this committee at my hearing a few weeks ago was an embarrassment. But at least it was just a good old-fashioned attempt at Borking."
A year and a half later, Schumer is parroting Kavanaugh's statement back at him.
When Kavanaugh used the phrase, nobody insisted that the statement necessarily implied violence or anything but political consequence.
Reaping the whirlwind is 2500 year old figure of speech that normal people use all the time. If Republicans generally have suddenly turned ignorant of the phrase's ordinary usages, that ignorance is only by choice.
Created:
-->
@bmdrocks21
I think that “armed revolt” might be a bit of a stretch.
We agree that GP has failed to substantiate his characterization.
But he [Schumer] is 100% lying in saying that he meant SCOTUS judges would suffer “political consequences”.
How do you interpret otherwise? Schumer specifically couched the sow/reap metaphor in political terms:
sow:
Republican legislatures take away rights.
If Gorsuch and Kavanaugh go forward with these decisions
reap:
Trump and Senate Republicans will gone in November
And considering how militant people can be about this issue, calling it a “right” and “healthcare” it is very likely that someone could construe this as requesting violence.
Which is why Schumer clarified his comment to specifically exclude violence. We should call on GP to likewise exclude violence, which he has manufactured by saying Schumer has "declared armed revolt." The truth is he did the opposite this morning.
Created:
I think that “armed revolt” might be a bit of a stretch.
We agree that GP has failed to substantiate his characterization.
But he [Schumer] is 100% lying in saying that he meant SCOTUS judges would suffer “political consequences”.
How do you interpret otherwise? Schumer specifically couched the sow/reap metaphor in political terms:
sow:
Republican legislatures take away rights.
If Gorsuch and Kavanaugh go forward with these decisions
reap:
Trump and Senate Republicans will gone in November
And considering how militant people can be about this issue, calling it a “right” and “healthcare” it is very likely that someone could construe this as requesting violence.
Which is why Schumer clarified his comment to specifically exclude violence. We should call on GP to likewise exclude violence, which he has manufactured by saying Schumer has "declared armed revolt." The truth is he did the opposite this morning.
Created:
-->
@ILikePie5
no.
threat [noun]
threat has at least two meanings:
- An expression of intent to injure or punish another.
- An indication of potential or imminent danger.
If you are asking did Schumer express an intent to hurt Gorsuch or Kavanaugh the answer is an obvious, laughable no.
Schumer indicated potential danger but the object of that danger was explicit: "We will tell President Trump and Senate Republicans" NOT Gorsuch or Kavanaugh. The nature of that potential danger was also explicitly political: "You hear that over there on the far right? You’re gone in November."
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
What the FUCK is a "whirlwind" supposed to mean if not VIOLENCE?
In fact, it refers to one of the oldest of Hebrew proverbs from The Book of Hosea 8:7:
"sow the wind, reap the whirlwind"
Bible readers will recognize Paul's echoing of this proverb in his letter to the Galatians 6:7:
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Wiktionary says:
sow the wind, reap the whirlwind [Proverb]
See also
- Every decision has consequences; a person's actions will come back to them; if one starts trouble or takes actions in spite of the discontent they cause, one will incur negative consequences.
See also
No violence is implicit.
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
--> @oromagiEvery post "The Oro" posts is a strawman.I suggested that "The Oro" does not understand the constitutional right to hold an opinion on fake news headlines as a substitute for rational argument, only that "The Oro" has a responsibility to his fellow DARTers not to manufacture inciteful bullshit and pretend to report "the GP" opinions are news- a strawman argument that "The Oro" regularly lives up to. "The Oro" should apologize and request that all his strawmen posts be removed as false.There is no honest analysis of the statement, "you will pay the price" that implies revolution or weaponry from "The Oro". Those aspects "The Oro" invented out of whole cloth and may not be justified as a reasonable opinion, as "The Oro" continues to strawman opinions as fact.
Rubber-glue. GP is just mirroring the argument without regard for content. GP has no justification for inserting "armed revolt."
Created:
-->
@Greyparrot
Do you think Chief Justice Roberts should personally apologize to you for calling your beloved Schumer's statements dangerous?
Red herring. Chief Justice Roberts did not make up lies about "armed revolt," GP did. GP should apologize to DART for making shit up and passing it on as news. I am not looking for any apology personally.
Created: